Waymo, Lyft partner on self-driving tests as Google plans CarPlay-ready Android car interfaces

Alphabet's Waymo is joining with Lyft to test self-driving cars on public roads, according to an announcement, while another Alphabet company — Google — is previewing a complete Android interface for cars which will nevertheless support Apple's CarPlay technology.

Details of the Waymo/Lyft partnership haven't been revealed, but should bring Waymo's technology to more locations, Bloomberg noted on Monday. Waymo is already engaged in a 24/7 ridehailing trial, but that's currently limited to a few hundred residents of Phoenix, Ariz.

The deal may be a deliberate snub of Uber. Although Alphabet once invested hundreds of millions into the company, the two are now engaged in a lawsuit over stolen files, one which could turn into a criminal investigation. If Uber's own self-driving technology takes off, it might also negate some of the potential for Waymo selling its technology or using it in its own ridehailing service.

Lyft is already in a self-driving partnership with General Motors, an important investor.

The Google auto interface will go beyond Android Auto, integrating car controls and Google Assistant in addition to natively hosting apps like Spotify and Google Maps, Bloomberg said. Like CarPlay, Android Auto simply bridges an automaker's own software with smartphones.

Indeed the new interface will offer other features Android Auto is missing, like 3D and satellite imagery.

At Google's upcoming I/O conference the company will show off the technology running on an Audi A8 and a Volvo V90. The software will eventually make it to all Audi and Volvo vehicles, as well as other automakers. No firm timelines have been made public.

Each company will be able to customize things to their liking, and Google said that it won't track any critical vehicle data.

Significantly the company revealed that CarPlay will still work on vehicles running Android, as long of course as automakers have enabled that support. Many 2017-model vehicles feature both CarPlay and Android Auto in order to avoid alienating buyers.

12 Comments

gatorguy 13 Years · 24627 comments

About 7 years ago

FWIW there were more automakers supporting Android Auto than Carplay the last time I'd read about it. Why would that be? Just guessing but Google and Waymo have made it clear they have no intention of directly competing with automakers with a car of their own design. Apple has avoided mentioning what plans they currently have, if any beyond basic testing of their autonomous platform. The industry may be hedging their bets.

EDIT: Well current count is about equal apparently according to what I've read today.

rogifan_new 9 Years · 4297 comments

gatorguy said:

FWIW thee were moire automakers supporting Android Auto than Carplay the last time I'd read about it. Why would that be? Just guessing but Google and Waymo have made it clear they have no intention of directly competing with automakers with a car of their own design. Apple has avoided mentioning what plans they currently have, if any beyond basic testing of their autonomous platform. The industry may be hedging their bets.

And yet some still cling to the idea that what Apple is really doing is building a car platform for other automakers. Of course they never say which automakers would adopt Apple's platform. I'm also skeptical that Apple would be better at the type of software needed for automomous/self-driving vehicles than they would be at building a car. Or that you can really separate the two.

ericthehalfbee 13 Years · 4489 comments

"Google said that it won't track any critical vehicle data"

What is their definition of "critical"? Seriously, though, is it possible for Google to make any product or service that doesn't in some way give them data for their actual revenue generator (advertising)?

jdgaz 9 Years · 406 comments

ericthehalfbee said:

"Google said that it won't track any critical vehicle data"

What is their definition of "critical"? Seriously, though, is it possible for Google to make any product or service that doesn't in some way give them data for their actual revenue generator (advertising)?

Using DuckDuckGo for my search engine. Doing my best to keep Google, Mr Softy, and Samsung out of my home and life.

maestro64 19 Years · 5029 comments

gatorguy said:

FWIW there were more automakers supporting Android Auto than Carplay the last time I'd read about it. Why would that be? Just guessing but Google and Waymo have made it clear they have no intention of directly competing with automakers with a car of their own design. Apple has avoided mentioning what plans they currently have, if any beyond basic testing of their autonomous platform. The industry may be hedging their bets.

EDIT: Well current count is about equal apparently according to what I've read today.

A few months back I began rethinking this who Apple car and what Apple could really be doing. I began to think they may not be making a car like Tesla, but infact making the control systems and user interface to the how you interact with a self driving car. Imagine that via you phone you and hale your car, tell the car where to drive you and also lock the car to only your phone and the only way the car knows who you are is via touch ID on the phone. I think this has more to do with what Apple is working on verse making the next great thing on 4 wheels. They do not actually need to make a physical car to help improve users experience with driving or being driven.